Same Mistake
by nimacu
Summary: InoxNaru Ino was not going to make the same mistake three times. Complete
1. A party for the Genin

Title: Same Mistake

Summery: InoxNaru Ino isn't going to make the same mistake three times.

Author: Nimacu

Disclaimer: I don't it. I can't tell it what do. I can't tell it what to see.

A/N Thought I should be able to contribute something to my own C2 group.

It took five minutes when she was seven years old to fall in love with Sasuke. She spent the next five years chasing after him, the whole time he never learned her name.

It had taken a near death experience to show her how much she cared about Shikamaru…unfortunately for her by then someone else had realized that he wasn't as bothersome as he appeared.

She was tired of pining.

She didn't want to be sitting at a party with people she already knew waiting to surprise someone she barely remembered. Yes, all her friends were glad that he was back. But really? All this fuss for a fifteen-year-old Genin? She had to admit that two and half years of training with one of the legendary Sennin was impressive. But still a Genin was just a Genin.

The look-out motioned for all of them to hide. The group jumped up as he walked through the door. "Welcome Home!" they shouted.

Ino stopped dead in her tracks. He was taller and thinner, and more than that every step he took into the room was full of confidence. Not the false bravado of a child, but the walk of a shinobi of the leaf.

This was it. He was it. IT was like of those old folk-tales, where the prince and princess meet across the crowded room and know that it's love.

Well except for the part where he hadn't even looked at her yet.

But he was going to look, she'd make sure of it. _Uzumaki Naruto would acknowledge her._


	2. The proper way to entertain your guests

Title: Welcome Home

Summery: InoxNaru Ino isn't going to make the same mistake three times.

Author: Nimacu

Disclaimer: I don't it. I can't tell it what do. I can't tell it what to see.

A/N I am completely awed at the number of reviews I received, I'm honored. Please continue reviewing. I find it inspirational.

She waited as he made his way around the group of people who had gathered to celebrate his homecoming. Eventually he made it over to where she was standing with Chouji and greeted her with a handshake before moving on to her companion, whom she noticed he greeted much more warmly than he had her.

Before she had the chance to break her way into the conversation he was off and onto another group of people. He came back over to talk to them a few times, never staying for more than a few minutes and never letting either of them get a word in. It was going to be hard to get his attention long enough to show him they were meant to be together, he didn't seem to stay on one subject or with one group of people for very long. He truly was the leaf's most hyperactive ninja!

Ino decided that although the party may not be over for the night, she was definitely done with it, she needed to get home and think. She wanted time to develop a strategy and perhaps daydream a little about becoming the next Mrs. Uzumaki. She informed her companion and waved good bye towards Naruto and the group of companions he was entertaining with what looked to be a very physical story. They all waved back but Naruto was turned around and he didn't see her leave.

* * *

He was so excited! He couldn't believe they'd thrown a party for him! He couldn't calm down, he wanted everyone to know how much he appreciated their acknowledgement of his homecoming! All of the people here, Sakura, Shikamaru, Temari, Kiba, Shino, Tenten, Neji, Lee, Hinata, Chouji and even that blonde girl who was always so mean to Sakura; Ino.

He didn't want anyone to feel left out, so he went around the room in circles first Sakura, Shikamaru and Temari, then Kiba, Shino and Hinata, then Neji, Lee and Tenten, finally he'd make his way to Chouji and Ino, he'd get to talking to one group and start to worry he was ignoring the others so he'd excuse himself and move on. It was tiring work being the center of attention but he loved it! In fact he was so caught up in making his rounds that he didn't notice someone had left until he heard the door slam shut. He quickly looked around, noticing that Ino was the one to have left, he hoped she hadn't left because she was bored, he didn't want anyone to say Uzumaki Naruto was a bad host! However he forgot his worry as he noticed Chouji was now standing alone in the corner, he went back to his story after motioning for his plus size friend to come over and join the group he was currently entertaining.


	3. Orange it's not like any other

Title: Same Mistake

Summery: InoxNaru Ino isn't going to make the same mistake three times.

Author: Nimacu

Disclaimer: I don't it. I can't tell it what do. I can't tell it what to see.

A/N This one's a little longer than the last two, but I'm really working hard at putting out a chapter a day and so that means you get little chapters, I'm sure they'll get longer the more we get into the story. Also, I completely enjoyed all of the reviews and would love for the attention to continue. And as a last note, since Japanese isn't my first or second language I worry about doing it justice in a story, if you see me make any mistakes let me know.

When she'd bought it last year, she'd never thought she'd wear it. It had been such a good deal and she'd bought it on impulse regretting it the moment she went home and hung it up next to her other, more femininely colored clothing. She'd have taken it back but she didn't want anybody else to know of her rash decision. But now, now it was exactly what she was looking for; a bright orange summer dress. It didn't exactly compliment her complexion, but she'd spent a great deal of time before falling asleep last night trying to list everything she knew about Naruto, and she'd decided that she didn't really know much at all; but he always wore orange, and that was a start. After all every "happily ever after" started with a "once upon a time".

* * *

" And so I told Ero-sennin that if he didn't teach me a new jutsu I'd be glad to go and tell the village council he was the one who…" Naruto's voice trailed off in the middle of his story as he watched someone new approach the Ramen stand, it was Ino. The girl who'd left his party early last night. He needed to go over and make sure she didn't think the party was boring.

* * *

It hadn't taken Ino long to find out where she could find Naruto at noon, she'd run across Kiba, and although he'd looked at her strangely when she asked, he told her that if Naruto was in town at lunch time the only place he'd be at was the ramen stand. She hadn't been there since back in her genin days with Chouji and Shikamaru. But that was before Shikamaru became a Chounin and before HER. Since then it'd had only been she and Chouji at lunch, and she always let him pick since she never ate more than a salad anyway. It looked the same as it always had; a long counter with chairs and a few tables and chairs sat up in front for the customers to enjoy the beautiful day while eating. In one of the front tables Naruto was there eating with their old academy sensei Umuino Iruka.

Ino decided that she wasn't going to rush up and hang all over him, well at least not yet. She'd play it cool first, go and order her food and if he still hadn't acknowledged her by the time it arrived she'd casually go up to them and say hello. She was having a hard time trying to figure out how to approach him differently than she had Shikamaru and Sasuke, she'd been too overbearing with Sasuke and with Shikamaru she hadn't been affectionate enough. She wasn't going to screw this up like she did with them, Naruto was her destiny, mistakes couldn't be made.

So it was much to her surprise and delight that while she was ordering her food Naruto approached her.

"Ino-san, why did you leave my "welcome home" party early?" He looked down at her questioningly, he sure didn't mind skipping the pleasantries in his conversation, but then at least he bothered to make conversation and he wasn't complaining about how bothersome talking was. It seemed to her that her taste was vastly improving. Her train of thought continued on those lines until she realized that she hadn't answered him.

"Boy this girl is weird" Naruto thought to himself, he'd asked her a question and she was just staring and smiling vaguely. Although as he waited for her to answer he did get a chance to look her over, he had to say she looked very pretty in that orange dress. But of course he thought everyone looked good in orange.

" Nice dress!" Naruto's comment seemed to bring Ino back to the conversation.

"Thank you! I left early because I had things at home I needed to take care of, I'm sorry I didn't get to finish celebrating your homecoming with everyone. If you'd like I'll take you out for dinner to make up for it!" Ino couldn't believe she'd said that, he was going to be creeped out they were barely friends and now he'd think she was a desperate freak!

"Sure! Ino-chan I love dinner! It's one of my three favorite meals, I'll meet you at the barbeque place at seven!" He wasn't really sure why leaving a party early required her to buy him dinner, but he'd never pass up a free dinner.

He'd agreed! Ino couldn't believe it as he turned back towards his table and companion. She received her ramen and ate a few bites before paying the man and leaving the stand. She was going to go ready for tonight, but first she had an old friend to track down and a great deal of orange clothing to buy.


	4. Boyfriend Material

Title: Same Mistake

Summery: InoxNaru Ino isn't going to make the same mistake three times.

Author: Nimacu

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I can't tell it what do. I can't tell it what to see.

A/N This chapter is three times as long as any I've written before. Again thanks for all of the reviews. I have a few things I need to address from the reviews then we'll get on to the story.

Bboo: He's not a clueless moron. I think I'm staying pretty in character to the guy who told Sakura she hadn't gained a womanly figure. Orange is an awesome color, but it tends to make people with very pale complexions look sallow in contrast with their clothing. But Ino looks better in it than she thinks.

Black: The only thing I can guess that it might be missing is any sort of adventure or action. I have added more depth though, maybe that'll help.

One more thing… I have been greatly honored. Setsuriko created a great piece of fan art for this fic, I'm going to upload it on my website and post the link in my profile.

In all of her fifteen years of living Yamanka Ino didn't think she'd ever have to do something like this. There was very little else on earth that she wouldn't rather be doing right now, but this… this was for love. For love she would go to her constant rival and sometimes friend Sakura for advice. There was probably nobody else in the entire village except perhaps the Sennin that Naruto had traveled with that knew him better than Sakura; and from the stories she'd heard about Naruto's sensei, Sakura was the better option.

If Sakura was in the village today (and as far as Ino knew she was ) then at about this time Sakura would be at the hospital with the Hokage checking on all of the serious patients, she knew this not because she wanted to have Sakura's schedule memorized but because it was wise to know where your rivals were at all times; and it was coincidence if she was sometimes she could be found waiting outside of the hospital for Sakura hoping to be able to verbally spar with her like they had done when they were younger.

She looked at her watch, quarter till two; Sakura should be out any moment. She had two ways in which she could address this. She could try and bully it out of Sakura, through taunts and insults, or she could go to Sakura like a friend and tell her why she wants to know about Naruto.

Suddenly sitting there on the bench outside the hospital she felt very lonely, here she was. Madly in love, and she had nobody to share it with, no girlfriends to talk it over with, the only person in the world she was close to other than her sensei was Chouji and she somehow knew this wouldn't be something he'd feel comfortable discussing, she could perhaps talk to Temari about it, but there friendship at best was tentative, and the only reason it could be classified as that was because they both made an effort on Shikamaru's behalf. Perhaps she would choose the latter of her options concerning Sakura.

"Hey Ino-pig!" Sakura yelled from the entrance of the hospital, waving at Ino.

"Hey forehead girl!" Ino knew the response she was supposed to make.

"You want to grab a late lunch? You look too stick-like"

"No, but I'll accompany you to the salad bar, you're probably on a diet since you've put on that weight"

"Funny.." Sakura glared

"Hey, you can't blame me for telling the truth, but before we continue this I was wondering if we could go somewhere and talk. It's _important_."

Sakura stared oddly at her but nodded her agreement and headed towards the park, expecting Ino to follow.

The two girls wandered over to an empty swing set, giving them a view of several little girls picking flowers.

"Do you remember when we were that young?" Ino asked wistfully

"When we thought we'd be best friends forever…"

"Before Sasuke, before anything mattered except for the perfect flower arrangement"

"But things changed. Change isn't always bad, and hey at least I can style my own hair now"

Ino, decided to skip that very obvious opportunity to insult Sakura, instead speaking quietly. "Things are changing again Sakura, I think…I think I'm in love, and like you needed my advice all those years ago, here I need your advice."

"Love? Are you sure you really want my advice on that; my non-relationship with Sasuke was a failure.

"But he knew your name; and I'm sure wherever he is, he's never forgotten"

"Maybe, but I don't want to talk about that. What I want to know is who is this mysterious someone who's turned loud, obnoxious Ino, into something resembling a decent human being."

"Uzumaki Naruto"

It took Sakura a few moments to digest what Ino was saying, then she started giggling, then the giggling turned to laughter, then the laughter turned to loud guffaws. It took her a few minutes to compose herself, Ino glaring at her menacingly the whole time.

"And what may I ask is so wrong with Uzumaki Naruto?" She'd waited for Sakura to calm down to speak but now she was tapping her foot irritatedly.

"You weren't kidding?" Sakura looked genuinely bewildered "But he's so Narutoish, he's an awesome ninja and all but he's not exactly boyfriend material."

"Oh, and our crush on Sasuke was based on his amazing conversational skills?"

"Well not really, but he was wicked hot and top rookie and…well Naruto's not as cute as him."

"Yes he is." Ino didn't think she had to justify herself any farther. "And I didn't come here today to debate with you whether Naruto was good enough to have a crush on; I came here to ask you for advice about how to win Naruto's heart. I had figured since you were his best friend you'd be able to tell me things about Naruto nobody else could."

Sakura seemed to think on this a moment before speaking "Well I guess there's someone for everyone after all, I can't tell you how to win Naruto's heart but I can tell you all the things I know of that will get his attention. But first tell me where the situation stands right now." She had the look of a skilled tactician on her face.

"Well we're having dinner tonight at the barbeque restaurant, and he told me at lunch that I looked pretty in this orange dress."

"You went to lunch together?"

"Umm…no, I just happened to show up at the restaurant he was eating lunch at."

"Well it seems you know the one of the most important thing about Naruto already, the way to get his attention is through his stomach. Naruto loves food. Ramen is his favorite, but everything else is a close second. He also loves the color orange" Sakura stopped a moment to wave her hand at Ino's dress. "Another very important thing in the world to Naruto is his becoming the next Hokage, and if you want to know the truth, there's more to be said about that ambition than meets the eye. From what I've heard in the Hokage's office, Naruto is being groomed to be the next Hokage, that's part of what the two and half years with Jiraiya was about, there's other things involved in that situation but that's always about the time someone discovers I'm ease dropping. But please for the love of God never mention that to him, the rest of us could never live with that for the next five years."

"Ok, got it. He wants to Hokage, he probably will be, but that's a secret. I give my word I'll never tell." Ino absorbed the information.

"Along with being Hokage comes the desire to be the best ninja, not just the best ninja of his generation; but the best ninja of all time. He'd do anything short of murder to learn a new jutsu ."

"Ok. Best ninja. Got it"

"Naruto also values his friends above anything, he'd die to protect them. He almost has at times. Which means he's loyal to a fault. DON'T TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THAT!. Inner Sakura seemed to have broken through and raged the last part of that.

"I won't. But I just have to ask one thing, you've described Naruto as successful, smart, loyal and even with a little mystery thrown in. How does that make him "not boyfriend material"?" Ino's face was serious as she waited for Sakura's answer.

"I don't think I've ever thought about it like that. I guess I just don't know." Sakura said the last part to herself as Ino left her swing and walked away.


	5. Gossip

**Title: Same Mistake**

**Summery: InoxNaru Ino isn't going to make the same mistake three times.**

**Author: Nimacu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I can't tell it what do. I can't tell it what to see. **

**A/N It's valentine's day so I'm lucky I even got this chapter out. Again I appreciate all the reviews. I do the happy dance every time I receive one. Please keep me dancing!**

**A few responses.**

**Cobra-100: If the email I sent you didn't clear it up I hope this does**

**Blackbodian: It's when he gets back, of course it goes AU after the first two chapters. But eh? I wouldn't say she's in love with him, but she's way in like and doesn't know the difference. I'll probably address that eventually.**

**Efrainman: Ino's dramatic, it's her style.**

**A/N 2 The link for the fan art is up, check it out. Anyone feels inspired to create more let me know. I love it!**

* * *

_Sakura wasn't a gossip by nature, not really at least it was just that she was finally getting to eat that late lunch when Kiba and Hinata joined her. And it wasn't her fault if Kiba wondered why Ino was looking for Naruto this morning. You couldn't really blame her for accidentally mentioning their date tonight…_

_Kiba was a gossip by nature and he fully intended to tell Shino that Naruto and Ino were dating when he ran into him after lunch…_

_Hinata had gone her separate way at lunch it and it wasn't her fault if she mentioned to Tenten that she was happy Naruto had found his special person…_

_Tenten only casually mentioned to Lee that he didn't have any rivals for Sakura's affection anymore…_

_And it was nobody's fault if Lee was so excited that he made up a song about it and sang it through the streets of Kohanu…_

_And if Chouji was eating second lunch while Lee was singing down the street it was only assumed that he'd mention it to Shikamaru later when they played Go…_

_And so it was of no surprise that the by the time the news reached Shikamaru the dinner that Naruto and Ino were having tonight was to celebrate their engagement…_

_And it was a natural assumption anyone would make that if they were getting married at fifteen, Ino's virtue must have been compromised…_

_Ino was very much like a sister to Shikamaru, so it was not unexpected that by the time seven PM was rolling around Kohanu that he and his former sensei were looking for one soon to be seriously injured fifteen-year-old Genin…_

* * *

Naruto had possibly had the weirdest day of his life, and the fact that he had spent two and half of years of that life with Ero-sennin that was saying a lot. A girl had offered to buy him dinner and the more he thought about it; A PRETTY GIRL had offered to buy him dinner. That wasn't just rare. THAT NEVER HAPPENED! He thought that she might be someone he could like as long as she didn't spend all of her time insulting Sakura and praising Sasuke like she used to.

But on a day like today that wasn't the weirdest thing that had happened, when he walked into town after his afternoon training session Kakashi-sensei had approached him to congratulate him on his good fortune. When ever he asked what kind of fortune it was he just smiled and walked away, like he thought Naruto was in on the joke. And two little girls had come up to him and told him that he was the sweetest guy they had ever known of.

_If this was the way things were going to continue than he was sure it would be an interesting evening._

* * *

Ino had decided just to wear the dress that Naruto had liked at lunch, she didn't want to appear to have preened too much if he hadn't realized by now it was a date. Plus, it was good to go with what she knew works, and she knew this worked.

As she approached the Barbeque stand she could see Naruto kicking a stone back and forth with his foot, it looked liked he'd put something in his hair to make it stay down. Fortunately for her (she loved his hair) it was doing an incredibly bad job at it.

She was almost there when she noticed Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei heading down the street towards them. She didn't want them to ruin tonight with there boring talks about strategy so she grabbed Naruto's arm and dragged him into the restaurant without greeting him.

_She didn't see the two ninja sending death glares toward the spot they'd just vacated._


	6. A second date?

Title: Same Mistake

Summery: InoxNaru Ino isn't going to make the same mistake three times.

Author: Nimacu

Disclaimer: I don't own it. I can't tell it what do. I can't tell it what to see.

A/N I couldn't sleep so I wrote the much anticipated (well at least by me) date chapter. This double update should keep those who don't like short chapters occupied for awhile.

"What was that all about?" Naruto pointed his arm to the door as they found a seat.

"I just didn't want to spend the evening listening to Shikamaru and Asuma discuss tactics, if they'd have caught up with us I'm sure they would have joined us."

"Oh, well it looks like they're coming in anyway." Naruto pointed to a spot over Ino's shoulder. Grimacing at the thought that her dinner with Naruto was going to be taken over by two men who didn't have the common sense to know they weren't wanted. Well at least by her.

Unfortunately for Ino, they wanted to do more than interrupt their dinner. They had decided that the first they were going to make him feel guilty, then shame him, and then beat him to within an inch of his life. Ino was like a sister to Shikamaru and a daughter to Asuma, and they didn't take kindly to her being put in a "compromised position" yes it was now the conclusion of the two that Ino must be pregnant. Although when and how they had come to that conclusion was somewhat muddled.

"Ino-Chan" Naruto stage whispered behind his left hand while pointing with his right to a space somewhat above Ino's head "They don't look very happy." They both stood up to greet the new arrivals.

"Of course we're not happy, to think we trusted you as a shinobi of our village and you go behind our backs and ruin the reputation of one of our own" Asuma seemed to be making up his speech on the fly and nodded his head at the end of it for effect.

"RUIN?" Ino screeched "I'm not RUINED! WE HAVEN'T EVEN EATEN YET!"

Shikamaru ignored her outburst "I thought you were a friend, but not only do you go behind our backs to see Ino, but you didn't have the decency publicly announce that you were going to honor your obligations and marry her."

"HONOR? WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH THIS?" Ino's face was turning a special shade of red as screamed at her "pseudo" family members.

However Naruto chose this time join the argument. "HONOR MY OBLIGATIONS! MARRIAGE! I'M FIFTEEN!"

"Well you should have thought about that before you got her pregnant." Asuma retorted

"PREGNANT?" Naruto looked baffled as his feet seemed to give out from under him. "If Ino's pregnant it's not my child"

"How dare you accuse Ino of cheating on you" Shikamaru seemed shocked at the thought

Ino seemed to catch her breath at this and started screaming again "I'M NOT PREGNANT, AND I DIDN'T CHEAT ON HIM BECAUSE WE'RE NOT EVEN DATING" Ino sat down as well adding quietly "And now we probably never will"

At this point the four were staring heatedly at one another, and nobody had made a move to speak. Well except for the restaurant owner, who came over to tell them they were disturbing the other customers and to ask if they would quietly leave. They did and that's why they could be found five minutes later outside of the restaurant waiting for somebody to break the silence.

"This is getting too tiresome" Shikamaru seemed to sigh "Ino you're not really pregnant?"

"No, I just told you that" She was working at not raising her voice now

"And you're not engaged? Asuma added

"No, this is the first time we've gone out. And it's not even really a date." Ino told them, the sadness in her voice evident.

Asuma and Shikamaru seemed to share a glance before they both mumbled apologies and left without explaining themselves.

Naruto had chosen to stay out of the end of the argument with Shikamaru and Ino's sensei. It seemed it was with her they were the most interested and he…well he was just trying to process one weirder thing that had happened today. When they left he could see that Ino was visibly holding back tears. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do about a crying girl, but he thought a joke might help.

"So this is going to be pretty hard to top on our second date, huh?"

Ino smiled at the comment "So, you thought of this as a date?"

Naruto was cornered "Yeah I guess so, I mean…the more I thought about it the more I didn't think you were inviting me out just because you left my party early."

"It was a pretty flimsy excuse, huh?"

"Yeah, but did you ever think that you might not need an excuse?"

"No, not really. I didn't think you'd go out with me if I just asked"

"I would have, even though I haven't seen you in over two years I still remember what a fighting spirit you had at the chuunins exams. I admire anybody who's willing to fight for what they want ."

"Well then maybe we should start this whole thing over again"

"Maybe we should"

"Uzumaki Naruto, would you like to accompany me to dinner tomorrow night?"

"Yes Yamanka Ino, I would like to accompany you to dinner" Naruto tried to make an exaggerated bow at the end of his sentence and almost ended up toppling over. The site had Ino laughing.

_It was nice to be reminded that this boy whose mere presence made her nervous was still the same Naruto who was the clumsiest kid in the academy._


	7. Following the leads

**Title: Same Mistake**

**Summery: InoxNaru Ino isn't going to make the same mistake three times.**

**Author: Nimacu**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it. I can't tell it what do. I can't tell it what to see. **

A/N There will be full notes at the end. Please read them.

A/N Small typo fixed

Naruto and Ino had drifted off together away from the barbeque place, quietly stopping while Naruto got ice cream cones for the both of them, they didn't have much to say to each other after the day that they had had, but it was a comfortable silence. But like all silences that surrounded either of them it was soon broken.

Naruto put his hand on Ino's arm, stopping her and asking "So, what was that all about anyway?"

"I don't really have a clue, but I'd be more than interested in finding out." There was gleam in Ino's eye that didn't mean something good was about to happen.

"Did you tell anyone that we were going to be there this evening?" Naruto was worried she might have told someone and that was how they'd found out.

"Only Sakura." Ino confirmed his fears

"Hmm…I wonder if she'd have any idea what that was about." What Naruto was really wondering was how many people Sakura had told.

Ino knew there was only one way to find out "Care to go and ask her?"

"More than you can imagine" Naruto was relieved

And so the two headed towards Sakura's home, chatting between themselves about their friends and their favorite places. Slowly it started to rain as they walked.

Naruto looked up the ski, speaking in a voice that was barely above a whisper "Every time it rains I think of the Third's funeral" he wasn't sure what made him share that, he wasn't one to talk about his inner thoughts.

"So do I, and every time I think of the Third's funeral, I think of Orochimaru and every time I think of Orochimaru I…" Ino's voice was lowered as they continued to walk; she left the unspoken end of the sentence hanging.

Naruto knew what she was going to say, and it was the same for him as well "Every time I think of Orochimaru I think of Sasuke"

"I don't like to think of Sasuke" She didn't want to remember the way things were, it was hard enough dealing with they way things are.

"Nobody does, I spend half my time trying to forget he was ever my friend and the other half thinking of ways to bring him back. I haven't seen him in three years and still he occupies my thoughts."

"Do you think he'll ever come back?"

"Do you want him too?" Naruto wasn't sure why, but her answer was important to him

"I'm not sure, and I don't think I care anymore. I don't want him anymore, and sometimes I can't remember what it was about him that I found so fascinating."

"We'll go soon, myself and a group of ninjas from the village. His time is almost up, he'll have to come home or we'll be forced to kill him."

"It all sounds so final" Ino wasn't sure what else to say.

"It is, we can't let Orochimaru have the Sharingan. Nothing is more important than that." His face was grim with determination; she could see how this man might one day become Hokage.

"You sound like Tsunade."

A big grin broke out on Naruto's face at that statement "Take that back"

"I won't" She smiled at him, she liked this camaraderie they had developed.

The two had been so caught up in their conversation that they hadn't realized that they'd arrived at Sakura's. She was standing out on her front steps when they arrived.

"WELL, why would you two decide to visit me instead of eating barbeque, it must be important for Naruto to turn down food." She grinned at the two innocently, having no idea why their demeanor had suddenly become menacing as they advanced on her.

"We got kicked out of the restaurant, would you like to know why!" Ino took a step closer

Sakura swallowed heavily, she knew that what ever it was there was a good chance they thought it was her fault. "Why?"

"Because somehow, someone gave Shikamaru and Asuma the impression that I was pregnant."

Sakura sighed in relief "How can you be pregnant? Naruto's only been back less than a week?"

Naruto walked towards her next "See that's why we were wondering where they got that information and how they found out we were going to be at the barbeque place."

"And since you were the only person I told" Ino added

"It must have been you who told them" Naruto finished for her

"The only people I told were Kiba and Hinata" and I never mentioned anything about you being pregnant I swear." Sakura spoke looking guiltily between the both of them before speaking again. "Look, I've got to get to the hospital, good luck on finding out who told them!" With that she ran from them; fast.

"I think we have a few more friends to look up"

"I agree"

Naruto and Ino headed off to find Kiba and Hinata, who lead them to both Shino and Tenten. Tenten leading them to Lee, who offered to sing the song for them. Which pretty much explained how the rest of the village would have found out.

"I wish I had accomplished some of the feats he sang about" Naruto sighed as they walked toward Ino's.

Ino smiled at the comment and teased him "It sure would have made for a more romantic first date than being kicked out of a barbeque place"

"You're forgetting, our first date isn't until tomorrow." Naruto reminded her

"Very true, but I wouldn't trade tonight for anything else" The thought that he'd be willing to go out with her again after tonight had her walking on clouds.

"Me either, even if I have to spend the rest of my life convincing people we never…" Naruto stopped for a moment smiling devilishly "wait I don't think I mind if they think those things about us"

Ino blushed as she arrived at the front gate to her home, she couldn't believe he was saying that he didn't mind if people thought they were a couple. She had an impulsive thought as she opened the gate and chose to act on it.

"Naruto-kun" she called to the retreating ninja as she ran over to him, stopping just as they were nose to nose. The street seemed to quiet at that moment as she leaned forward and their lips met.

It wasn't that it was the best kiss in the history of man kind, it wasn't that long, and she'd run back inside moments after pulling away. But for Naruto in those three seconds that their lips met, he felt like the strongest, smartest ninja in the world, like as long as Ino was near nothing could stop him.

_It was in those three seconds that Uzumaki Naruto fell in love._

_-The End-_

_**That's the end of this story and to think it started out as a just a drabble. I plan on writing at least one sequel and several one-shots to go along with this story. And if anyone can write Lee's song, I'll do a one-shot to go along with that. I'm hoping to be able to base an entire NaruIno series out of this story base. Any questions, comments or suggestions, leave a review or email me. Thanks Nimacu**_


End file.
